The first day … BIRTHDAY !!

Started the day thinking about all the things I didn’t get finished in my thirties or in my 40 to 40. The blogs I needed to finish. The scripts I didn’t get done. The ideas still floating out there. Ran some errands. Trying to catch up from the amazing, surprised weekend. Wanted to run – didn’t happen. Ended up dealing with some work issues and chatting with an old friend from SOS.

Matt 6:34 – do not be anxious about tomorrow …this is such a revelation. That is what I am taking with me. The notion to not expend energy but only peace toward tomorrow. Definitely not anxiety. On that- I draw the line. The line in the sand that separates the past and the future. These past 40 days have been insightful, purposeful, quiet, eventful, and most importantly meaningful–marking the closure of 4 decades. The beginning. But they aren’t finished. And they may never be. The projects not finished. I am not finished. My purpose is only beginning.

One of my favorite shows, the West Wing, ends after 7 seasons. In the final episode, the, now, former President Bartlett is flying away with his wife in Air Force 2. As he is looking out of the window, assumedly thinking about all the decisions and memories from the last eight years, his wife asks him, “What are you thinking about?” Turning, gazing out of the window, he answers, “Tomorrow.”

This struck me. As many things as he could be recounting, reassessing, or rethinking after just being President of the United States for eight years–he was thinking about tomorrow.

That is how I envision myself–not as President of the United States–but gazing out of the window of life…never thinking about mistakes or decisions from the past, but only thinking of “tomorrow.” Enough mental space emotional energy spent gazing out the window of the past. Time to think only forward.

Cheers to the next 40 years of tomorrow!